"Jason! Jason!" He heard a familiar voice shout among the commotion. It was his father. How was he going to explain to his father that he was too late? That Adam was gone.

"Over here, Mr. Kramer!" Craig shouted and waved his hand. Mr. Kramer spotted them and headed immediately to their side.

"Good God! Are you alright?" he said as he looked them both over.

"We are fine, Mr. Kramer," Craig answered for the both of them.

"Where is Adam, Alyssa and Chuck? Are they okay?" Mr. Kramer said looking around at the faces of the groups of people gathered around the sight. They all looked like they were traumatized, but no one's face was a familiar one.

"Chuck is still waiting in my truck on the backside of the cabin," Craig said, still holding Jason. He didn't know how to say the rest of the answer to Mr. Kramer's question.

Jason sensed the moment of silence and felt that it was his place to tell his father the news. He looked his father in the eyes and was about to tell him of his brother's fate when he heard the voices of the firefighters shout for a paramedic. Jason looked over in the direction of the commotion. Walking up beside the demolished cabin was two black figures; one was limping and dragging the other one. He then saw the limping figure lay the body down on the ground and return to the backside of the house. Jason felt his heartbeat faster and faster as each second passed. He got up to walk over to the figure on the ground, but the paramedics and rescue team shoved him back. He stood with his father and Craig, waiting for news. Was this his brother? He could not see anything from where they were standing. Jason wanted to go and see who the limping figure was, but his father held him back. "We have to let them do their job, no matter who it is."

Unknown to anyone, the limping figure was none other than Chuck. He had reached the cabin about the time of the explosion and saw Adam and Alyssa's bodies get flung into the air form the force of the blast. He raced over to Alyssa who was closer to the fire and checked on her. She was still conscious and told him to go and check on Adam. So Chuck stumbled over to his best friend, who lay in a heap beside a big Maple tree. Adam had several cuts and he was mumbling something. Chuck leaned over to hear what he was saying. When he heard what to him that sounded like a death bed speech, he grabbed Adam and tried to pull him out of the weeds. "Oh no you don't. Don't go giving up yet Adam!" Chuck said as he pulled with all of his strength. "You had better hang on. You have been through to much to die like this."

But Adam was too heavy for him to move because of his leg injury. He looked over at Alyssa and thought that he ought to at least get her away from the fire and go and get help. He had heard the rescue team arrive and hobbled to get their attention. Chuck picked up Alyssa and drug her behind him with all of his might. He got around to the side of the house and got the attention of the rescue team. He shouted that they needed to send someone to come with him and he turned to return to Adam's side. He was afraid that Adam might die and he did not want him to die alone under the old Maple tree. He did not see Jason, Craig or Mr. Kramer among the many faces in the crowd, so he felt that it was his duty to be there. He waited patiently for the paramedics as he held Adam's hand. Then when they did come with a stretcher he stepped back to let them work on Adam. He walked around to the side of the house and looked for his friends. Then he spotted Craig, Jason, Jacob and Mr. Kramer and his wife. Mr. Kramer was holding his wife. Chuck had guessed that she had just arrived on the scene. She had sent Kara home so her parents would not worry. Reluctantly, Kara obeyed her wishes with the promise of being informed of any news. Chuck was welcomed with open arms as he got to the group. "Adam is behind the house. He was carrying Alyssa out the backdoor when the house exploded. It threw him into the woods. They are working on him right now." Then he turned to Jacob, " Alyssa is conscious and she is right over there."

Jacob immediately went to his sister's side, while the Kramer family went over to check on Adam. Craig stayed with Chuck who was exhausted from trying to help Adam and Alyssa. It was hard for each of the Kramer's to control themselves as Adam was being prepared to be taken to the hospital. He looked like he had been battered cuts and sot covering his body and clothes. He had not gained consciousness and this worried everyone. His mother was especially nervous because she feared that he had hit his head and maybe would not come out of this so easily this time. "Who is going to ride with him to the hospital?" a paramedic said as he approached the Framer family. "I will," Laura Kramer said without hesitation. "I am his mother. What is going on?"

"We are not sure. He is breathing and he has stable vital signs. We just want to get him to the emergency room before something may happen," the woman said. "We are taking him to St. Mary's as soon as we are loaded up if you want to follow the truck."

Mrs. Kramer stayed with Adam while Mr. Kramer had his son follow him to the group of police cars that surrounded the church. The chief recognized him and walked over to the Kramers. "We found Ashita. He was hiding in the altar. He had locked up Clara in a closet to keep her from interfering with his plan. According to Jacob, he had this all planned out tonight. It is a good thing that Jacob came to his senses or this could have been a very bad situation," Chief Johnson said. "I think the DA will go easy on his for his testimony against Ashita and his accomplice."

"They found Cyrus?" Jason asked, remembering that the last time he had seen Cyrus, he was trying to run away from the church grounds.

"Caught him running down the road," the chief said proudly. "He ran right to us!"

"Good, I would say he was involved with the other cases that are pending against him. Ashita is responsible for framing insurance companies back in North Carolina. The officials there say that he not only arranged the deaths of Alyssa's parents, but his own mother as well. He needed money again, so he staged for Alyssa's death for $100,000. But she lived," Mr. Kramer said, telling them about what he had discovered in Los Angeles. "It was going to cost him even more to take care of her so he had to finish her off. But this time Jacob could not go through with it. I think he discovered that his uncle was not the Messiah too late."

"Adam and Chuck just happened to be in the car," Jason added. "But that made it more believable."

"Exactly! Alyssa does not even know that Jacob is her brother. He was raised as a cousin to her and was one of Ashita's favorites. That is why Jacob's testimony is going to be so important and he is ready and willing, even if he ends up in jail himself," Mr. Kramer said, looking over to see if Adam was ready.

"We will tie everything up here. You go and be with your son. We can discuss everything later, Carl," the chief said as he turned his attention to the investigation.

On the way to the hospital, Mr. Kramer informed Jason of his findings. Ashita kept his church going off of insurance money that he collected off of the deaths of his family. It was only after the death of the mother that any suspicion was raised about him. When he got word of the possible investigation, he moved his congregation to California. His plan may have succeeded if it were not for the fact that he allowed Alyssa to attend school and meet outsiders. She would have just been another case. The rest of the trip was in silence. Everyone knew what Dr. Coykendall had said about future trauma to Adam's head. Jason did not know if he could stand to go through this all again. But at least he was alive and he vowed that say that Adam would never be hurt again. He was going to stick to him like clue, whether he liked it or not.

Once at the hospital, the paramedics rushed Adam and Alyssa into the emergency room. It was at least two hours before anyone had heard anything. By then, Clara had arrived at the hospital. She walked over and held Jacob as they waited for any news of the teenagers. Everyone was exhausted and trying to get comfortable in the emergency room chairs when a doctor made his way through the double doors.

"The Alyssa Rawlins family?" He said looking around. Clara and Jacob raised their hands. The doctor walked over to them and addressed the group. "She is going to be just fine. She has a burn on her right arm, but it is very minimal. We are going to keep her overnight for observation and she will be discharged in the morning. You may go back and see her for a few minutes." the young doctor said calmly. "We have given her some pain medication so she will be sleepy and groggy."

As Clara and Jacob passed the Kramer family, Clara stopped and gave Mrs. Kramer a reassuring hug.

"Please keep us informed. We will be staying at the camp until we can make some decisions," Jacob said shaking Mr. Kramer and Jason's hands. "I am really sorry for any pain that I may have caused you and thank you for believing in me. You helped me save my sister."

"Thank you, Jacob. You helped us save my brother in the end and I will always be grateful for that," Jason said as he returned the handshake.

At that, Alyssa's family walked back to see Alyssa.

It was another two hours before the Kramers, Chuck and Craig heard any word about Adam. They all had feared the worst. Soon a familiar face made his way to the awaiting group. It was Dr. Coykendall.

"I guess he is really stubborn. I was shocked when they came and told me he was down here. I had to come and check over him," the doctor said, sitting down in the set of chairs across from them. "He is going to be fine. All of the brain scans have came back no different than the last set. He has regained consciousness and has been very alert, but tired. Amazingly his burns are no worse than a bad sunburn and we gave him dome medicine for that pain. There was only one thing wrong this time."

Everyone was quiet at the last phrase. His mother feared that he too was paralyzed because he couldn't feel much of anything in the squad.

"He broke his arm in two places and that is already been set by my interns," the doctor said with a smile. "And he has been warned that this time he is to rest, rest, rest!"

"He will if I have to sit on him," Jason said, as he was relieved to hear of his brother's condition. "Can we see him?"

"Only two at a time," the doctor said. "We will let him go home in the morning after some observation."

Mr. and Mrs. Kramer went back first. The mood among the three friends had changed to a calmer mode.

"Chuck and I just wanted to say that we are very sorry for sneaking behind your back Jason. But it was either we took him or he was going to go himself," Craig spoke up to break the silence.

"I know how Adam can be. Thank you for looking out for Adam." Jason said as he clapped both boys on the shoulders. "But the next time, chain him down."

"We can agree to that!" Chuck said with a laugh. "The alternative gets us into too much trouble."

At that time, Mr. and Mrs. Kramer came back through the doors. "He wants to speak to you alone." His mother said, looking at Jason. "He is in the third room to the right."

Jason went to his brother's side. Unlike the last time he saw him in a hospital bed, he looked a little red and his face was bruised and he had a cast on his right arm. He was sitting up and smiled when he saw his older brother.

"I am so glad you are alright. I really thought we had lost you this time," Jason said as he put his hands on his hips. He was standing at the foot of Adam's bed.

"Please don't give me the big brother speech," Adam said sarcastically. Then his tone became more serious. "I know that I should not have left behind your back. But I had to do it. I really love her Jason and I didn't want to lose her."

Jason was very surprised by the last sentence. He had never heard his brother proclaim his love for any girl. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I have never felt like this about any girl in my life. Mom told me that she was going to be okay. I am sorry though that I had to betray you. I don't want to lose your trust," Adam said, looking down.

Jason walked over to the side of the bed and faced Adam. He was angry that his brother had sneaked behind his back, but he could not say that he would not have done the same thing if he were in Adam's shoes. Before he could speak, Adam continued on, "I know things are going to be different, especially on our cases. I hope that you will still want to work with me even though I really am going to be the stupid jock."

This tore Jason apart. He leaned over and hugged his younger brother. "We were born to be partners forever. You are my brother and no matter what happens, we will face life together," Jason said. "And you are not stupid. Don't ever let me hear you say that again. We will get around this, just you see. You will be your old self soon enough because I am not letting you out of my sight!"

"I am so lucky to have you as my big brother, even though you do get on my nerves at times," Adam added, trying not to sound too mushy. He really did love his brother, but he did not express his feelings as openly as Jason did.

Over the next few days, Jason did as he promised. Adam did not leave his sight. Adam slowly gained strength, but it was apparent that things were going to be different. Adam was not going to be the old person that he once was before the car accident.

The DA did strike a deal with Jacob in exchange for his testimony. He had to perform community service that was to be spent making one of the cabins handicapped accessible for his sister, who now rejoiced that she still had a family. The community of Emerald City held a fundraiser for her and the local dealership had a new Cherokee fitted to driven by a paraplegic. But first she would have to regain more of her muscle control.